March 15

Today we returned from the second expedition of RMS 20. We spent eleven days out in the snow, living in snow structures. We traveled on telemark skis with climbing skins on the bottoms so we could move up hill. Initially I was a little worried, about winter camping; cold weather and pulling sleds with equipment and food seemed a little out of my league, but I quickly came to love it. The first night we slept in a "quigloo," it hit us: We were sleeping in snow! With sleeping bags and body heat we were able to stay very warm. To build the quigloos, we skied to our site on one day and packed down the area where we wanted the structure. Then, we piled more snow on top of that and then left it over night to set up the snow so it was strong enough to build a structure out of it. The next day, we skied back to the mounds and dug out the inside of them. On person got to be the "mole": the person that dug through the middle of the mound to make a tunnel from one side to the top. Almost as cool, no pun intended, as the snow shelters were the snow kitchens. We carved counters, benches, spice racks, warm water refrigerators, and Nalgene shelves out of snow. They had all the comforts of a normal kitchen, only they were more like the temperature of a refrigerator. The kitchens we sculpted were four-sided so that the all the tarp groups could all hang out while cooking. The centers of the kitchens were raised up by the packed snow we had shoveled. One of the instructors, Matt Turnbull, decided to take advantage of this and get in tune with his inner snow artist. The center of our first kitchen was turned into a vicious snow dragon, while our second was made into a more docile snow dolphin. These creatures, along with the deliciously buttery foods coming from the camp stove, made the kitchens excellent places to hang out. One issue with living in the snow is if your not moving you can quickly become cold. Luckily, all of our campsites had suitable backcountry skiing nearby. If we were beginning to get the chills, we could take off our skins and take a few ski runs down the slope. After reaching the bottom, the climb back up to camp would make even the coldest camper toasty.

Camping in fields of snow certainly presented some challenges, but they did not go unrewarded. The three-day snow that hit us during the trip left us with plenty of fresh powder to rip. After breakfast and a class or two, we would head out into some nearby slopes, we put on our climbing skin, and contour around to the top, singing and cheering the whole way up. The way down was always breathtaking, between the scenery and killer wipe outs by you, your peers, and sometimes even your instructors. Thankfully, the powder is as forgiving as it is enticing, so nobody suffered more than a momentarily bruised ego. Though it’s definitely fun to take a day at Ski Cooper, there’s nothing like setting your own trails and making your own way through the backcountry, right in your own backyard.

There's always a lot of fun to be had winter camping; however, remembering that HMI is a school, classes carry on as usual. Often with the majestic Sawatch Range as the background, we had classes on both the academic and wilderness curriculum of the trip. Depending on the weather, classes might also be held in our snow shelters. We had a class on how to operate our stoves and how to fix them. We also reviewed how to use a map and compass to navigate. Ben taught the P&P class, discussing "The Arctic Hedonist," a story about the Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson. Part of our discussion focused on his leadership styles. My favorite class was the poetry study in English. We wrote odes to tempeh and curry and our appreciation of the sound of silence. Even though they were actually classes, their energy and creativity (and the amazing location) made it hard to remember that we were actually in school.

The eleven days our group lived and traveled together made it seem as if we had known each other for many years. The expedition was filled with countless acts and events that brought our small community together. While we were cooking our dinners, we would chat about a wide variety of topics over our counters. One night the guys' tarp group surprised the rest of the groups with Girls Scout cookies. It was great to eat something so civilized in a place so simple and wild. Every night before we went to bed, the eleven us would huddle into the instructors' snow cave and play games such as Mingle, or we would just stay up talking and telling stories in the warm room of snow. This was at time where everyone could relax and reflect upon the tiresome day. It was during these meetings that I felt the most connected to everyone in the group – winter camping is quite a powerful experience to share with your peers. One night as everyone was entering the snow cave, the instructors baked a cake for Sarah's birthday. It was a brownie cake with chocolate frosting. We all loved eating it, and the boys did not hold back from eating spoonfuls of the left over chocolate frosting. It was a great celebration. It is events like these that made the group come together and gave everyone a community experience to remember. And now, we're all back on campus, sharing stories of this incredible experience and looking forward to what the rest of RMS 20 has in store.

By: Hanson Smith, Katie Kornman, Courtney Dean, and Joe Coplan

Upper Photo: A tarp groups starts digging in to their soon-to-be quigloo and kitchen.

Middle Photo: Gabe, Lulu, and Matt skin up to make a few turns in the sunshine.

Lower Photo: Ben's expedition group gathers around their "dinner table" on the final night of the winter trip.